Would it be impossible to federate a homestay social network like Couchsurfing?
TIL, on another thread, that Trustroots is actually open source. I used it once 5 years ago, and I think it has a lot of potential.
The Death of Couchsurfing?
281–290 of 321 posts
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#282So sad to see this aggressive shift. I have made many good friends from Couchsurfing, and I was paying the annually fee both to support the site and to be "Verified by CouchSurfing". Even though on March they received my annually payment, today after reading this article I tried to login to CS after some months, only to find out I had to pay _again_ to even access my profile. I could not see my photos, references, me…
Have a look at Trustroots, the management of the project is quite different and doesn't put the same emphasis on formal democratic processes as BeWelcome does, but it makes for a community that's closer to what seems to me the authentic couchsurfing spirit. All of these hospex networks brought me a lot anyway.
Thanks for the link abyssin, indeed seems very interesting.
Btw, I tried accessing my profile from Wayback Machine and got a nice "This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine". Really Couchsurfing?
Also, I forgot to mention that the message you get when you login to couchsurfing.com is a landing page that says: "Due to the impact of Covid-19, we need your immediate help to keep Couchsurfing alive" and then the only options you have are: 1. Pay with Credit Card 2. Pay with PayPal 3. Logout (https://imgur.com/g7QKHEt)
Their site totally looks like ransomware.
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, this does happen, but it's very rare. Anecdotally the most common issue is non-violent sexual assault - e.g. guys hitting on girls. That's largely a risk for solo female travelers unfortunately. If you travel as a couple, for example, the risk is far less. On the other hand the vast majority of solo travelers, male and female, don't have any issues. There are some safety nets in place, like you can get verified…
Guys hitting on girls is sexual assault now?
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#284How could it be dead? Contrary to airbnb couchsurfing is not a company, it's a concept. And it has no running costs. People will just pause and get back to it later on.
Did you read the article?
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to be confused between what you think should be true versus what actually is true. If you think women can afford to take the same risks as men when travelling then I just really don't know what to say to you. That's just hopelessly naïve. Attractive girls learn very early on that every man wants to have sex with them. It's just part of life for them. > Does that mean that if I couchsurf at a man's flat I sho…
> No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation. Why, on a site like couchsurfing, would there be any implied sex, or opportunity for misunderstanding around 'sex for surfing'? It's blatantly outside the standards and norms of the community.
I think he's arguing (and I would agree) that it is blatantly WITHIN the standards and norms for some dudes to complete ignore community mores and bend/break every rule imaginable to get laid. The risk is non-zero. At the individual level, everyone should acknowledge the risk, assess it, and implement control measures to reduce its potential impacts on you, personally. To fail to account for it is simply dangerously naive.
I don't think I've used Couchsurfer since....2012? Roughly the same time I discovered Tinder. I absolutely treated CS as a dating site where you had to be extremely discrete/low-key in your approach. I rarely offered my couch but did offer local tour guide-like services to cute women which was essentially a first date. I would never consider staying at a male host's place; even as a Marine I would assume the rape/murder risk too high. Maybe I'm just a misanthropic cynic but I don't trust anyone to behave themselves. I also have never seen the appeal of the "broke backpacker" travel methodology, perhaps colored by experiences living out of a backpack in the military, which usually sucks. If I have the money to fly halfway around the world, I should have the money to afford comfortable private accommodations. If I'm going to mingle, I'd prefer to mingle with the locals rather than other foreigners on a shoestring budget (or rich people PRETENDING to be on a shoestring budget).
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
> No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation. Why, on a site like couchsurfing, would there be any implied sex, or opportunity for misunderstanding around 'sex for surfing'? It's blatantly outside the standards and norms of the community.
I think he's arguing (and I would agree) that it is blatantly WITHIN the standards and norms for some dudes to complete ignore community mores and bend/break every rule imaginable to get laid. The risk is non-zero. At the individual level, everyone should acknowledge the risk, assess it, and implement control measures to reduce its potential impacts on you, personally. To fail to account for it is simply dangerously…
> If I'm going to mingle, I'd prefer to mingle with the locals rather than other foreigners
I don't understand you here: that's the whole point of couchsurfing! You're staying with "real people", instead of yet another backpacker hostel
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hosts hitting on their guests has always been regarded as a gross violation of hospitality. The biblical story of Lot is all about that.
> The biblical story of Lot is all about that. The moral flaw "the crowd" made was that it was men attempting to coerce sex from other men. Lot wanted to solve the problem by throwing his virgin daughters into the crowd.. which was apparently a perfectly righteous thing to do. And anyways, that's why you shouldn't get your morality from an ancient book from a very different culture. Please don't throw any of your fam…
There is a similar story in Judges 19–21, the story about The Levite's Concubine[0]. The main difference is the lack of supernatural elements in this story. Instead the outcome is civil war among the Israelites.
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Extracting profits at the cost of society may be a bad thing for you and me, but it might be a good thing for YC. I'm reminded of Paul Graham's words on unions: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/663456748494127104?lang=en From his perspective, it could be that society is something standing in the way of profits.
Are you saying something like everything is relative? I can't tell if you're being sarcastic.
I'm sorry for the lack of clarity. I should have been explicit in saying, I agree that treating society as a thing you can vacuum wealth out of is a bad thing; the people who run a VC firm (and who view unions as an indicator for industries to "disrupt") may view that as a good thing, or as the goal.
That should tell you something important about them.
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
> No, but if I were you I would at least consider that there might be a "misunderstanding" leading to you having to find alternative accommodation. Why, on a site like couchsurfing, would there be any implied sex, or opportunity for misunderstanding around 'sex for surfing'? It's blatantly outside the standards and norms of the community.
I think he's arguing (and I would agree) that it is blatantly WITHIN the standards and norms for some dudes to complete ignore community mores and bend/break every rule imaginable to get laid. The risk is non-zero. At the individual level, everyone should acknowledge the risk, assess it, and implement control measures to reduce its potential impacts on you, personally. To fail to account for it is simply dangerously…
Yes, dudes are going to be creepy. The earth is round. Some will work outside the spirit of couchsurfing. Yourself included, to a degree. Ok.
But he also was arguing, IIUC, that the sex for stay is implied for women. I get that people will use it that way, but implying that it is any sort of norm is a very perverted view of couchsurfing. One that I never experienced, or found to be normal from many people i've talked to along the way.
Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
Come to think of it why don't men just walk around town with a big sign saying "SEX WANTED" on it? I can't believe nobody has thought of this before.
I have to wonder how much of this thread is just stereotypically sheltered programmers not realizing that you can have consensual sex without any rigmarole, and that many women are actually looking for it if you're a cool guy that they like, even if they pick you as the house they want to sleep in while traveling, which in my experience often involves some beers with the host. One clue is that it's just focused on me…
I think people are just pointing out there’s a distinction between:
1) hosting someone with no expectations, hitting it off and consensually getting together
2) hosting someone with the uncommunicated expectation they will sleep with you and pressuring someone alone in your house in a strange country until they consent.
People are cool with 1 and not with 2.